If you’re like most people trying to strike it rich online, then you’ve definitely come across the term “affiliate marketing.” This is when you promote someone’s product or service, and you get a commission in return. While finding the right affiliate is good, I’ve always thought that finding the right affiliate network is even more important. Each affiliate network has different products, brands and special benefits. I’m going to show you some of the top affiliate networks so that you know exactly where to start looking.
ClickBank
I love ClickBank, and I know I’m not alone in that. ClickBank is an affiliate network that only has digital products. You will mostly find ebooks, but there are some other digital products lurking around. ClickBank’s great because it’s the go-to affiliate network for top sellers. All of the big online millionaires use this network, and you can easily promote their offers. This means big bucks in your pocket if you’re crafty about your promotional techniques. Promoting products with ClickBank is easy. You can look for products based on their commission percentage, category, gravity and so on. Gravity is a special term used by ClickBank that shows you how many sales were made through affiliates. Higher gravity means that the product is converting, but it also means that there is more competition. Find a good product with a moderate to high gravity, and then place the link on your website to gain some commissions.
Commission Junction
Better known as CJ, this is another great affiliate network that you are going to love. Primarily dealing in physical products, you will find that CJ has a large number of popular brands like Payless Shoes and VistaPrint. Their interface gives you a wealth of information about the brand (such as 7-day EPC and common commission per sale), and I love how easy it is to find new businesses to affiliate with. It can be a little tough at first when you join CJ because some of the better affiliates will reject your application. Start by finding a newer business so that you can build up a repertoire with CJ, and then apply to the larger affiliates. You will be provided with links, images, coupons and other promotional materials so that you can easily promote each company.
LinkShare
LinkShare is one of the first affiliate networks (being made in 1996), and I really love them. Their interface isn’t quite as good as CJ’s, but there are many other popular brands here that will help drive your commissions like Avon and 1-800 Flowers. They mostly deal with physical products, but you can also make money by driving leads. You should join both CJ and LinkShare so that you gain access to the most popular brands and companies. LinkShare is basically the same as CJ when it comes to affiliating with companies. You should build up your sales so that the bigger affiliates will take you under their wing. Until then, just promote the smaller businesses to make some money.
Amazon
The last on my list is Amazon. Amazon is another affiliate that primarily deals with physical products, and you can easily promote products regardless of your website’s niche. From movies to washing machines, you will find it with Amazon. They have also stepped into digital products, and you can make money by promoting Kindle books, which makes it even easier to cash in with Amazon. Amazon has many different tools to help with your affiliate marketing. You can choose to promote a single product, or you can make a carousel or favorites widget that will show a bunch of different products. You can also make custom banners or an “aStore” storefront, which is like an ecommerce store, but you make a commission instead of a direct sale.
Conclusion
I love affiliate marketing, and part of good marketing is finding the best network. The network determines what products you can promote, what brands you are able to work with and what type of commissions you can make. I suggest joining all of these networks so that you have access to the most products and brands. It’s free, and it should only take you a few minutes to fill out the application.
